9 Sep 2014

On transfer deadline day 2013, Liverpool tried to broker a surprise deal to bring Spain international Juan Mata to Anfield. The deal fell through, and Manchester United ended up signing the Spaniard for £37m. Things have not gone well, though - just like at Stamford Bridge, it seems that Mata is increasingly surplus to requirements, and Louis Van Gaal is reportedly set to allow him to leave for a knockdown fee during the January transfer window.

"Juan Mata will be sold in January to accommodate a second wave of rebuilding under manager Louis van Gaal. United would accept a sale in the region of £20m".

Mata - recently described by Rafa Benitez as a 'very clever' and 'dangerous' player - is clearly an excellent footballer, so it's surprising that both Jose Mourinho and Louis Van Gaal don't fancy him.

Could this be a great opportunity for Liverpool? Transfers between Manchester United and Liverpool are extremely rare, but the arrival of Van Gaal has shaken things up at Old Trafford, so you never know what might happen.

Would Mata fit in at Anfield? From a footballing standpoint, he'd slide perfectly into Brendan Rodgers' preferred system, but the main issue appears to be his perceived lack of defensive application/pressing, something that is absolutely vital to the way Liverpool play the game.

£20m is a comparative bargain, though, for a proven-quality player who basically guarantees assists. Should LFC pursue Mata in January?

We already have 2 CAMs in Coutinho and lallana. We should rather try and buy shaqiri in January. He would fit directly into any formation, and would be very vital, especially when one of our main strikers is injured.

If he comes to us he'll have exactly the same problem he has at United and had at Chelsea. Where is he going to play and who's place would he take?Saying that 20 mil would be a bargain but I also feel that his lack of pace would cost him in our team as it has Suso IMO. Overall don't see this one happening

If he is unwilling to press, then we should forget him. I have favored him in the past because he is so creative on the attack and just seems to make good things happen...always in the right place. I'll be watching him now to see how he reacts to lost possession. BR told Balo he's to mark on corners and press to get possession back...and he has done it so far...so who knows with Mata. I do agree Mata creates a traffic jam at AM.

lets bid for him in jan and then pull out at the eleventh hour. i think his time is done. our kids are doing a better job. but if we can flog the scums for say 10mil . why no?t mata will have everything to prove.

I think that boat has sailed to be honest... I think Rodgers targeted Mata on a loan period, and back then that was from Chelsea, reasons amongst others are;a) Rodgers would'nt approach Utd for a player.b) Utd wouldn't sell to Liverpool unless it was for extortionate money. c) We don't actually need Mata now.He'll end up at Spurs.

barcelona arw willing to sell neymar for 50 million next summer and his preferred destination is liverpoo..Trust me on this ...this is happening he has spoken to suarez and he has told him he will be a legend at anfield ..suarez himself he would not rule out a return in three years time even it meant playing for free.

The lack of work rate keeps popping up. We know that Mourinho demands defensive discipline from his players so it does seem likely. I will be honest - I simply haven't seen enough of Mata to make a clear judgement. He's obviously a talented attacker but he has to play the whole game in order to be wanted at Liverpool. The whole question reminds be a bit of Ronaldinho who was an attacking genius but never did any defensive work. I suppose it's easier for some players to produce that attacking brilliance if they don't have any other duties. They'll have more energy and more focus, be better able to produce a burst of speed. So there are clear benefits but at the same time there is clear value in having a team dedicated to making the opposition constantly uncomfortable. I guess it's up to each manager to decide for themselves if they like what they see and so far it looks like we're seeing two experienced top flight managers say they don't want to bother. I can't see Rodgers bucking that trend.

We will not do business with Man United so cant see this ever happening anyway.However, He is not what we need, it would be like when David Moyes started stockpiling number 10's at Man United. We have plenty of options at 10 with Sterling, Coutinho, Lallana. Would much rather a top DM to come in and battle for the place with Gerrard and then to ultimately replace him over time.

I was disgusted when we signed Downing in stead of Mata and until the start of this season, I felt we could still have a place for him in our team but with the players at the club now, his position is well covered. The jury is still out on most of them but it doesn't make sense to me to spend money on another attacking player after spending millions on the same type of player in the summer. Plus we've unleashed Sterling now and he needs to play as many games as he can. No more rotation nonsense. So the next twenty million should definitely not go on an attacking player. Either on a DM or a GK imo.

I, for one, was a huge fan of Mata, when he was Silva's understudy at Valè. Rafa wanted Silva, but as a young fan I was mad for Mata. Then he signed for Chelski (and we got StuDow) and... well... that faded. Then he signed for the shite and he just died in front of me. All that hope for him to turn into a Manc that looks perpetually homeless. Like many of the others on here, I think he would probably be wasted UNLESS he were to revert to his old LW role that he played at Valè, but I dont think he is quick enough any more. We are too loaded in the AM slot with Sterling being preferred behind the 2, and next in line would be Couto and Lallana, but Markovic could probably do well there too. Mata is a very good player, but just not what we need. We aren't quite in a position where we can buy players we dont really need just because they are on sale. If Sterling were pushed (as some have suggested) to be an outright CF and we loaned out Marko for a season, then Mata could share the role with Couto, but I doubt all of this or any of this would happen.

Interesting, you are the first person to say this... I'm interested to know why though? I think he is less of a liability than Coutinho, in that he probably doesnt give away as many passes or unsuccessfully dribble players as much and probably has a better shot on him (I actually sound like I'm agreeing with you, but wait) BUT we would be faced with the problem of stunting Coutinho's development. In my opinion Couti isnt as good as Mata was at 22, but Mata didnt seem like he was going to get much better. I even remember a commentator mentioning something along the lines of "when he was developing at Real Madrid B and in his early Valencia days, it seemed like his ability had no ceiling, but in 2010 he seemed to just stop at the (high) level he was at". Coutinho doesnt look that way at all, he honestly looks like he could be a world beater when he's in his prime (26-28) and stopping his flow of regular games can do damage to the players development. Keen to hear your thoughts though Joel. Cheers

Would spend on the money on a highly rated young CDM . If we can get rid of Borini, it will be worth while investing in a young upcoming striker that has some first team experience and has shown ability in the first team.

I don't believe I said he was crap did I? All I said is that he's surplus to requirements. If you would have asked me in May I would have jumped at the offer, but at this point funds are better spent elsewhere in the squad. He hasn't been in form for almost 2 years now, and I doubt we have the luxury of waiting for him to come around. I hate it when so called "experts" can't properly read a comment.

I wanted him when he was available to come to the prem it was between him and Downing that we were reportingly going for. We played Valencia in a pre season match and Gary Gillespie whilst living in an unknown planet said that he prefered Downing. We ended up with pis poor Downing. I wanted Mata then but not Couthino sterling and Lallana can fill that void now.

Yes the fact that he hasn't been productive in two years would likely account for that now wouldn't it?

Perhaps your cause would be bettered by actually making a case for Mata joining the team and or explaining why his valuation should actually be higher rather than trolling. He's by no means a trash player, but he's definitely not at 30 million pound player either. My entire point.

He is still an amazing player IMO. Doest really suit the MU system nor did he suit Mourinho's style of play. He would be great for us though. He's a 20+ assist player a season and a world class CAM. Still quite young too. for 20m its a no brainer.

The counter argument is that we should spend the 20m on a player like Reus. If the question is Reus or Mata? Than yes of course we should go for Reus but if both are an option or Reus isnt then Mata for that price is gold.

It's fine to say that his lower work-rate doesn't suit some, but you can't say that he doesn't have the work rate required to play in the Prem because, as I pointed out before, he showed sufficient work rate to be one of the best players in the league pre-Mourinho.

Can't agree my friend. as i said 'doesn't have work rate required to play TOP FLIGHT premier league' ..... this league is moving up a notch in terms of work rate, pressing, closing down. It's what the top flight clubs require from all players now. A very talented footballer, but no longer what is wanted at the new level .... even a bit of a luxury ! He needs someone to do his graft for him, top clubs need eleven grafters at all times !

Again, I'm going to disagree, The league does favour a pressing game at the moment, but you don't need to have everyone be high octane.

Eden Hazard doesn't work as hard as Willian but is significantly more effective.

Gerrard lacks the legs to be an integral part of a pressing game but got over 25 goals/assists in the league last season (admittedly with a lot of pens, but still impressive).

I think one source of the initial disagreement (I was mainly saying he could play in this league rather than he could play for a top club) is when you are saying top flight, I think you mean the top teams, but top flight is almost exclusively refers to the whole top division. For example "QPR have been promoted to the top flight".

Returning to the idea that Mata couldn't play for a top club because of his work rate, if work rate were so important, players like Pirlo would be irrelevant but as you saw when Italy played England (England being a decent (if more ineffectual) symbol of the Prem's style) even when England played high octane attacking players known for their work rate (Rooney, Welbeck, Sturridge, Sterling and Henderson- some of the best players in the league at playing a high intensity pressing game) they couldn't get close to Pirlo.

Thanks Benj. My main beef with Coutinho is that he is too lightweight for BPL and tends to fizzle out by 70th minute. Yes, he has the vision, but when opponents tend to man mark him closely, he can't seem to shrug of their attention. At least with Mata, he has stronger lower build, and can easily escape from opponent's attention using his speed and close control skills.

Yeah, we may say Tinho is only 22, but if you are good enough, you are old enough. So for a 22 who is still struggling with fitness even after 2 full seasons with us, I think it may be better to offload him for a significant fee, I'd say 25mil at least, if we can get Mata in.

Don't forget we have another similar player in Lallana playing in the same position as Tinho. I'd rather we develop Suso (also lightweight) if we were to keep another lightweight player in Tinho.

Matta can only play no.10 he is a luxury player if ever there was one but a very good one. If matta were to sign for 20m I'd ship Coutinho out for the same amount. I really dont think Coutinho has the pace to be the player HE wants to be or the cleverness of movement to be the player Matta is. We need to play Coutinho in a deep midfield role alongside Henderson and Gerrard where there is no pressure on him to beat his man consistently OR even to have a consistent creative impact. If we are blind and continue to play Coutinho on the wing or even in the number 10 role he and we will struggle.

Interesting, I think personally I would still stick with Couto, but I do see your point with him being lightweight (just look at the West Ham game), but I think his potential and skill set makes up for it, he is dynamic and gets people excited. I dont feel like Mata does that anymore and certainly not Suso. I really had high hopes for him and was impressed with his work on loan, and when he made a few apps in the first team, but like you with Couto, I was very worried about his 'lightweightedness'. And the beauty of Lallana, Couto and Sterling is that all 3 can play in a host of positions. Combined you have basically all positions north of DM covered. Hell you basically have that with any one of them. With your point 'if you're good enough, you're old enough', yes and no. I totally agree that even young players can be first teamers and with our current squad, I'd be silly not to. My point was more that "There is more to see". Likewise with Sterling, we've only started to see what these guys are capable of. Sterling, Couto, Markovic, Hendo, Allen, Moreno, Manquillo, Sakho, Lovren, even Balo and Studge, all have plenty of growing left, and I dont know about you guys, but as a red, it gets me pretty excited for the next couple of years. YNWA

Is there something wrong with him? Why do clubs keep wanting to offload him? It seems a bit odd.I don't really think there is the space in the squad to accommodate another attacking mid, but to not even try seems a bit silly as he is a quality player.